I purchased a brand new phone and saw a Bitcoin payment device

[Somegory]

I have been using a android phone for for the past 5 years and no more official updates are pushed to the device anymore, I started noticing some lagging and so on, I've even formatted the phone few times, it feels old so I planned to get another since few months ago, yesterday I made up my mind because I was pissed that the phone failed to support an app that I needed.

I dressed up and transported myself to where I can buy a new phone,I decided to go with a Redmi 15 in a store, the price is good enough and it has enough ram double the size of my old phone, at least there won't be a lot of lagging for a while, 12g ram is enough I believe.

So it's time to pay up, I went there with the intention to make payment in cash but the seller said they accept different type of payment, which is normal until he said ( even Bitcoin) 😭

I paused at first and look around me, I don't see any ' Bitcoin Payment accepted here' and I asked why, he said for security reasons, to cut this experience of mine short I ended up paying with Bitcoin.

I could have choose to avoid it since I was there with Fiat already but why not?



I thought to myself, so people are still accepting Bitcoin on a low key in this country? The last time I saw something similar was years ago,  I waited for him to bring out his smartphone so that I can send the Bitcoin payment through Trust wallet but bro came out with a PoS looking device than looks like a phone was mashed up with it, I asked him to let me take a snap, I was surprised how he turned defensive saying I can't, I had to become more friendly and he accepted later but asked me to cover the screen.




Few years ago Bitcoin was ban in my county, the ban was lifted later but I guess people just want to be cautious, however I can't figure out what this device is, how many people know that this device is a thing? This can be used at different business ventures as it's easier for every thing payment solutions.



Have you ever come in contact with this Pos device before?

[BattleDog]

What you saw is almost certainly a dedicated crypto PoS terminal, not very different from the little card readers shops use, just with a custom Android build and a crypto gateway app on top.

Most of these devices are either hooked into a local payment processor or directly to an exchange account: customer scans a QR, pays BTC (sometimes Lightning, sometimes on-chain), and the merchant either keeps the coins or it auto-converts to fiat in the background. That also explains why he didn't want you filming the screen, since those UIs often show merchant IDs and internal order numbers. In a country that recently unbanned Bitcoin, merchants are going to be extra careful about having that floating around on social media.

Even if you've never seen that exact model before, the important part is the pattern: infrastructure is quietly being installed while the public narrative is still "no one uses Bitcoin." You went in for a Redmi and accidentally found a proof-of-adoption detector.  

[freedomgo]

it does look like this https://www.sunmi.com/en/v2-pro/.. and based on what i read crypto payments is possible since it runs in android OS. you can install what is needed to add it as a payment system.

Based on Android, SUNMI OS has more than 200
optimizations and enhancements, making your
devices business smarter and stronger.

It wasn’t written that they accept Bitcoin because it might violate the law. If Bitcoin isn’t considered a currency, it shouldn’t really be part of any official payment system unless there’s approval from the government.

But your payment is still valid of course, since you received the device.

[Pauldesaints]

That was very interesting and a welcome development we want Bitcoin to become globally acceptable in no distance time.
I would have love to  know the country your talking about as in my own country it's still a crime involving yourself in any form of Bitcoin activities

[john_egbert]

Vendors are always happy to cut corners and not go for the central authorities to report to (usually that's the case), this, and also the recent lift of the ban made this situation come to fruition.

Less taxes = more profit.

[moneystery]

I paused at first and look around me, I don't see any ' Bitcoin Payment accepted here' and I asked why, he said for security reasons, to cut this experience of mine short I ended up paying with Bitcoin.

...

I asked him to let me take a snap, I was surprised how he turned defensive saying I can't, I had to become more friendly and he accepted later but asked me to cover the screen.

Your country's regulations likely only allow Bitcoin as an asset for trading and investment, but not for payment. So, it's understandable that he didn't put up a sign saying Bitcoin payments are accepted at the store because he simply didn't want to deal with the authorities. Furthermore, when you said you wanted to take a picture of the PoS device, it only made him even more suspicious that you were some kind of authority posing as a customer, and he became defensive... fortunately, he didn't reject you outright and tell you to leave.

But payments with Bitcoin are still not common in many places because merchants are usually bound by regulations that limit the payment methods they can use. But if there are still merchants who still accept payments with Bitcoin, it is quite worthy of appreciation because they don't care about what the owner says, and still accept it even though it could get them in trouble.

[Die_empty]

That was very interesting and a welcome development we want Bitcoin to become globally acceptable in no distance time.
I would have love to  know the country your talking about as in my own country it's still a crime involving yourself in any form of Bitcoin activities

Bitcoin awareness in my country is low because of government's views about cryptocurrencies. More people are using Bitcoin as an asset than as a currency. There are a few establishments that accept Bitcoin, but it would have increased if the government hadn't placed some restrictions on Bitcoin transactions. I have visited some businesses that accept Bitcoin, but I never came across the device in the original post. It's always good not to have just one payment option, that's why having alternatives like Bitcoin should be encouraged.

[Floxynice]

I think that device is  a crypto PoS terminal. Although I've not used one before, I have read about those devices and I know they are being used in business places where bitcoin is accepted as a means of payment. Those devices are of different brands and are not made specifically for bitcoin. With that device, you can also pay with altcoins, including stable coins. Alot of people don't know about it because it is not publicly advertising. In my country where the stance on crypto is not too clear, this device is not common to see. I believe that is why I am yet to see it in shops.

[Maus0728]

Really cool to see a PoS device like that, with the slow but eventual realization that bitcoin and other cryptocurrency is here to stay, people are slowly accepting of things like this and it is a good thing. I guess that with the bitcoin ban being lifted, you should expect to see more of that when you go shopping and stuff and I think it will be a good thing to happen if you ask me, bitcoin is still and will always be about freedom anyway.

Vendors are always happy to cut corners and not go for the central authorities to report to (usually that's the case), this, and also the recent lift of the ban made this situation come to fruition.

Less taxes = more profit.

The problem with this one is that cutting corners will end with you losing everything as long as you continue doing that, and I am sure that those vendors will still have to file a tax report for the income of their business and any discrepancy or anomaly on their side is going to be scrutinized by that country's tax collector and we all know here how rabid a government is when it comes to their taxes, they do not want anyone getting the upper hand when it comes to that sweet, sweet taxes. The vendor might be getting the upper hand right now but their greed for more profit is going to be their downfall because people will notice eventually and when they notice, they tend to investigate and from there we all know where that would lead and at the end of the day, the profit that they have hidden away is going to be taken away from them anyway because of their greed.

[Dunamisx]

In whatever thing we are doing, it should always ring the government regulations first in our minds, because we can't afford to violate theirs rules, this now depends on whether if Bitcoin is allowed in our country or not, there's no problem ones it's not banned to use it as payment system, also, we should be careful of the sourced to which we get some of these devices, for security reasons.

[SatoPrincess]

I have seen a few gadget shops that affect Bitcoin but they always have a bitcoin address somewhere in the shop. I’ve never seen the device you posted before in real life. Nigerians are resilient people and will go for what they want despite the pressures of the government.

Really cool to see a PoS device like that, with the slow but eventual realization that bitcoin and other cryptocurrency is here to stay, people are slowly accepting of things like this and it is a good thing. I guess that with the bitcoin ban being lifted, you should expect to see more of that when you go shopping and stuff and I think it will be a good thing to happen if you ask me, bitcoin is still and will always be about freedom anyway.

Vendors are always happy to cut corners and not go for the central authorities to report to (usually that's the case), this, and also the recent lift of the ban made this situation come to fruition.

Less taxes = more profit.

The problem with this one is that cutting corners will end with you losing everything as long as you continue doing that, and I am sure that those vendors will still have to file a tax report for the income of their business and any discrepancy or anomaly on their side is going to be scrutinized by that country's tax collector and we all know here how rabid a government is when it comes to their taxes, they do not want anyone getting the upper hand when it comes to that sweet, sweet taxes. The vendor might be getting the upper hand right now but their greed for more profit is going to be their downfall because people will notice eventually and when they notice, they tend to investigate and from there we all know where that would lead and at the end of the day, the profit that they have hidden away is going to be taken away from them anyway because of their greed.

In Nigeria, small scale businesses do not bother about filing tax reports. Most of the businesses are unregistered so they have the freedom to do what they want in that context. 

[CryptoATM]

Congrats on your new phone purchase and I was tempted to as which country you’re from but I didn’t because if you wanted to say, maybe you would have done that while making your post.
In my country, we have similar machines for the regular point of sales (pos) machines and yes most of these machines are already built with android operating systems which means they can also function like the regular android mobile phones but the major difference is that, the pos can print out paper receipts after each transactions and with that pos machine, the phone vendor might have installed a bitcoin wallet on the device and I’m saying this because there haven’t been a post about mobile bitcoin ATMs.

 

[betswift]

Congrats on your new phone purchase and I was tempted to as which country you’re from but I didn’t because if you wanted to say, maybe you would have done that while making your post.
In my country, we have similar machines for the regular point of sales (pos) machines and yes most of these machines are already built with android operating systems which means they can also function like the regular android mobile phones but the major difference is that, the pos can print out paper receipts after each transactions and with that pos machine, the phone vendor might have installed a bitcoin wallet on the device and I’m saying this because there haven’t been a post about mobile bitcoin ATMs.

 

In my experience, never saw such exact machines, phone-like ones, ony ATMs, the big ones.

[Agbamoni]

POS terminals are basically built as Android devices to perform specific actions that carry out transactions. I am not surprised to see a new POS terminal that has bitcoin transaction support. Don't forget it uses an internet connection and has a touch screen like a smartphone. It is an upgrade on the device, which is very useful for business owners willing to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.

[joniboini]

That's a cool story. I assume your government allows merchants to accept Bitcoin, then? Otherwise, they won't prepare dedicated devices like that to accept Bitcoin transactions. I get the impression that 'security reason" is not really about the government closing down his store, but more about people trying to $5 attack him. If the ban just get lifted, then the change is really fast. I don't think my country will follow anytime soon, though. If anything, it feels like Bitcoin payment is getting further based on the articles I read on social media.

[Popkon6]

I have never used a Pos device before, but this device is used in Bitcoin transactions. However, this pos device is most used in business for Bitcoin transactions. There are fast transactions and a lot of security because this device plays a huge role in providing customer service, this device allows you to make any type of cryptocurrency payment and is suitable for transactions at any time and at any moment. This device has gained the most popularity in Bitcoin transactions.

[Alone055]

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear about this is tax evasion. I mean, if the country doesn't currently have any laws for cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency payments are not regulated or considered legal, vendors accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment without having a sign that those are accepted are basically only doing it so that they don't need to pay any taxes for those sales, because when they take those phones from the companies, then sell them and repay the company, they pay a portion of their profits in taxes, if I'm not wrong, but this way, they won't need to pay any taxes and only pay the company what they are owed.

Talking about the device, it's nothing unreal or surprising, they can even have a QR code on that device to show to their customers that they can scan and pay the amount, and this could be done without having to use a third-party payment processing service because every wallet you use can provide you with a QR code for receiving payments from the senders.